Saturday, May 24, 2008

"I could be such a good missionary if it weren't for the natives."............ Otto Koning (of Pineapple Story fame) said that, I think.

There is a Murphy's Law for missionaries. In my experience it is this: As soon as you are unavailable, the most impatient person in the village will come to the door, and will knock and call incessantly until you answer the door (no matter how loudly or often you call out that you will be there as soon as you can). Today it was the girl who comes each day to pick up insulin shots (kept in our fridge, as they have none) for a diabetic lady. There had been no one at the door for perhaps 30 minutes, and I thought it would be a lovely time to get cleaned up, after painting at the hospital, working in the meds depot, cleaning our house, and etc. I was at the house alone and should have known better. As soon as I turned on the water in the shower, the knock came, and continued without ceasing and in spite of my answering (ok, it was more like shouting). When I got to the door, steam was pretty much rolling out of my ears, and the girl looked so surprised that I was unhappy with her. She got my little sermon about respect, manners, and the wisdom of stopping knocking long enough to listen for a response, only a little longer than I usually give it. I think God brought me to Haiti (at least in part) to teach me patience. I haven't graduated that class yet. And I think I now need a shower for my soul.

Thank God for blessings--they help to balance the annoyances. We've been without internet here for several days. Yesterday, Rich finally was able to talk to the company (they actually called us back!), and they gave us several things to try, and then pronounced our transmitter dead, and told us a new one would cost $550! At bedtime last night, Rich and I agreed that we (well, he and Tyler, really) should investigate everything else that could possibly be wrong, so starting on the easy end--it was dark up on the roof, anyway--he tore a cable end apart, redid it, plugged it back into the modem, and..........it worked. God is good.

Today we painted at the hospital; it's not that we love painting so much, but it's so nice to see things freshened and brightened up. Rich also provided transportation for some of the hospital staff who wanted to spend a day at the beach in Mole. We had Bibles to give to a couple of pastors down there, and meds to send to the clinic also, so he was able to combine the errands with helping the staff have some fun.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Laurie and St. Eres "I can't just sit around here; if I do that I'll get all stiff and not be able to move!" And believe me, she doesn't just sit around! Ernelia is blind, but she knows her way around. Here she's showing Laurie how to dance properly. =) She has Laurie's footsteps memorized, and always knows when her friend is coming.